A US woman who shot and killed her husband and two adult children before taking her own life is thought to have committed the shocking crime as a result of being ostracised from the religion she was raised in.

A federal judge sentenced a former Arkansas judge Wednesday to five years in prison — a stiffer punishment than prosecutors recommended — after he admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in return for personal benefits that included sexual favours.

Every time I tell a mate I’m doing a story on cryptocurrency, they invariably ask me the same two questions: should they invest their own hard-earned money, and which cryptocurrency will get them a Lamborghini/yacht/island quickest?

In a 60 Minutes online exclusive, reporter Liz Hayes quizzed Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his relationship with the unpredictable Twitter aficionado and US president Donald Trump ahead of their meeting at the White House Friday.

Kevin Rudd to seek WA schools deal

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will jet into Western Australia armed with a last-minute pitch to Premier Colin Barnett to sign up to the Better Schools funding agreement.

Mr Rudd has not visited WA since his dethroning of former Labor leader Julia Gillard.

But after leaked internal polling showed Mr Rudd's return to the top job coincided with a spike in Labor's popularity in the west, Mr Rudd will visit Perth on Friday and has scheduled a meeting with Mr Barnett, the premier's office has confirmed.

A spokeswoman said the funding reform formerly known as Gonski was certain to be part of the discussions.

The deadline for agreement with the states and territories falls on Friday, while Mr Rudd is also tipped to potentially call an election in coming days.

When the government goes into caretaker mode, no more individual agreements to adopt the reforms can be reached.

Negotiations with WA have failed to swing Mr Barnett's consistent refusal to sign up to the agreement until his concerns about control are addressed.

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The prime minister's office last week said WA was the only state not to have requested an extension to the negotiating deadline.

Also on Wednesday, Mr Barnett said the federal government could have thanked the state for providing police resources to respond to an asylum seeker vessel spotted by oil and gas platform workers off Dampier last week.

The police had put themselves at risk to "pick up some of the gaps in Commonwealth surveillance and presence," he said.